Article #359-2 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from Good Stories for Great Holidays, by Frances Jenkins Olcott

It was very, very cold; it snowed and it grew dark; it was the last
evening of the year, New Year's Eve. In the cold and dark a poor little
girl, with bare head and bare feet, was walking through the streets.
When she left her own house she certainly had had slippers on; but what
could they do? They were very big slippers, and her mother had used them
till then, so big were they. The little maid lost them as she slipped
across the road, where two carriages were rattling by terribly fast. One
slipper was not to be found again, and a boy ran away with the other. He
said he could use it for a cradle when he had children of his own.

So now the little girl went with her little naked feet, which were quite
red and blue with the cold. In an old apron she carried a number of
matches, and a bundle of them in her hand. No one had bought anything
of her all day; no one had given her a copper. Hungry and cold she went,
and drew herself together, poor little thing! The snowflakes fell on her
long yellow hair, which curled prettily over her neck; but she did not
think of that now. In all the windows lights were shining, and there was
a glorious smell of roast goose out there in the street; it was no doubt
New Year's Eve. Yes, she thought of that!

In a corner formed by two houses, one of which was a little farther from
the street than the other, she sat down and crept close. She had drawn
up her little feet, but she was still colder, and she did not dare to
go home, for she had sold no matches, and she had not a single cent; her
father would beat her; and besides, it was cold at home, for they had
nothing over the them but a roof through which the wind whistled, though
straw and rags stopped the largest holes.

Explanation

This excerpt is from "The Little Match Girl" (Den Lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne), a famous fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1872), though the passage you’ve provided is from Good Stories for Great Holidays (1914), a collection arranged by Frances Jenkins Olcott, who adapted or anthologized classic tales for children. Andersen’s original story, published in 1845, is a poignant, tragic tale set on New Year’s Eve, contrasting the warmth of holiday celebrations with the suffering of a destitute child. The excerpt you’ve shared introduces the protagonist’s dire circumstances, establishing the story’s themes of poverty, neglect, and the harshness of societal indifference.

Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt

1. Setting and Atmosphere

The opening lines immediately immerse the reader in a bleak, wintry landscape:

"It was very, very cold; it snowed and it grew dark; it was the last evening of the year, New Year's Eve."

Time and Place: The story unfolds on New Year’s Eve, a time traditionally associated with warmth, family, and hope for renewal. The contrast between the festive occasion and the girl’s suffering is stark.
Sensory Details: The cold is emphasized through repetition ("very, very cold"), and the darkness ("it grew dark") reinforces the isolation and despair of the protagonist. The snow, while beautiful, is also a symbol of indifference—nature continues its cycle regardless of human suffering.

2. The Little Match Girl’s Plight

The girl is introduced as a victim of extreme poverty:

"a poor little girl, with bare head and bare feet, was walking through the streets."

Physical Suffering: Her bare feet (having lost her oversized slippers) are "red and blue with the cold", a detail that evokes frostbite and hypothermia. The loss of her slippers—one stolen by a boy who jokes about using it as a cradle—highlights the absurd cruelty of her world.
Economic Desperation: She carries matches to sell, but "no one had bought anything of her all day; no one had given her a copper." This underscores the societal neglect—people are too busy with their own celebrations to notice her.
Hunger and Longing: The "glorious smell of roast goose" taunts her, emphasizing the gap between wealth and poverty. The fact that she "thought of that" (the New Year’s feast) shows her awareness of what she is missing, making her suffering more poignant.

3. Fear and Abandonment

The girl’s fear of returning home reveals the cycle of abuse and poverty:

"She did not dare to go home, for she had sold no matches... her father would beat her."

Domestic Violence: Her father’s violence is implied, suggesting that even her home is not a place of safety. This reinforces the hopelessness of her situation—she is trapped between the cold streets and an abusive household.
Extreme Deprivation: The description of her home—"nothing over them but a roof through which the wind whistled, though straw and rags stopped the largest holes"—paints a picture of utter destitution. The wind whistling through the roof is a metaphor for the family’s vulnerability, exposed to the elements with no protection.

4. Symbolism and Literary Devices

Andersen employs several literary techniques to deepen the emotional impact:

Juxtaposition:
- The warmth of the holiday (lights in windows, roast goose) vs. the girl’s freezing suffering.
- The boy’s callous humor (using her slipper as a cradle) vs. her desperation.
- The beauty of her hair ("long yellow hair, which curled prettily") vs. her starvation and cold (she doesn’t even notice it).
Repetition:
- "very, very cold" – emphasizes the extreme, unrelenting nature of her suffering.
- "No one had bought... no one had given" – reinforces societal indifference.
Irony:
- The story is set on New Year’s Eve, a time of new beginnings, yet the girl is dying.
- The matches she carries (meant to bring light and warmth) become a symbol of her fleeting hopes (later in the story, she lights them to imagine comfort before freezing to death).
Imagery:
- Visual: The "snowflakes on her long yellow hair" create a fragile, almost angelic image, contrasting with her suffering.
- Olfactory: The "smell of roast goose" is a temptation, making her hunger more tangible.
- Tactile: The "red and blue" of her feet suggests pain and numbness.

5. Themes

The excerpt introduces several central themes of the story:

Poverty and Social Inequality:
- The girl’s suffering is not her fault—she is a child trapped in a system that ignores the poor. The fact that no one buys her matches or helps her highlights societal failure.
Isolation and Neglect:
- She is alone in the cold, with no one to turn to. Even her home offers no comfort. The wind through the roof symbolizes how exposed and unsheltered she is, both physically and emotionally.
The Cruelty of the World:
- The boy stealing her slipper and joking about it shows how even children can be cruel in a world where survival is harsh.
- The father’s violence suggests that those who should protect her instead harm her.
Hope vs. Reality:
- The lights in the windows represent warmth and joy she cannot access. Later, the matches she lights will briefly illuminate her imagination, but reality remains cruel.
The Fragility of Life:
- The girl’s youth and vulnerability (her "little naked feet", her "poor little thing") make her suffering more heartbreaking. Her impending death (foreshadowed by the cold) is a tragic inevitability.

6. Significance of the Excerpt

This opening sets the stage for the tragic arc of the story. The girl’s physical and emotional state makes her eventual hallucinations (when she lights the matches) more understandable—she is desperate for warmth and comfort, even if only in her imagination.

Andersen’s tale is often read as a social critique, exposing the hypocrisy of a society that celebrates while children starve. The New Year’s Eve setting is particularly biting—while others look forward to a new year, this child will not live to see it.

The story also carries religious and moral undertones:

The girl’s innocence and suffering evoke Christian imagery of martyrdom.
Her death in the cold can be seen as a sacrifice that goes unnoticed, much like the poor in a wealthy society.

Conclusion: Why This Excerpt Matters

This passage is devastating in its simplicity. Andersen does not over-dramatize; instead, he piles on small, realistic details (the lost slippers, the smell of food, the fear of her father) to build an overwhelming sense of despair. The contrast between the holiday cheer and the girl’s suffering makes the story unforgettable, forcing readers to confront the reality of poverty and neglect.

The excerpt does not yet reveal the supernatural or hopeful elements (the girl’s visions when she lights the matches, her death, her soul ascending to heaven with her grandmother), but it establishes the brutal reality that makes those later moments both beautiful and tragic. The story ultimately asks: How can a world so full of light and warmth allow a child to freeze in the dark?

Would you like an analysis of the rest of the story (her hallucinations, death, and the ending) as well?

Questions

Question 1

The passage’s depiction of the lost slippers—one irretrievable, the other stolen by a boy who jokes about using it as a cradle—primarily serves to:

A. Introduce a moment of dark humor to alleviate the otherwise unrelenting bleakness of the narrative.
B. Highlight the girl’s carelessness as a contributing factor to her suffering.
C. Emblematise the systemic depletion of the girl’s already meagre resources by an indifferent world.
D. Foreshadow the girl’s eventual descent into hallucination, where objects take on surreal significance.
E. Contrast the practicality of the boy (who repurposes the slipper) with the girl’s impotent passivity.

Question 2

The narrative’s repeated emphasis on the girl’s physical coldness—her bare feet, the snow, the wind through the roof—functions most significantly to:

A. Establish a realistic setting that grounds the story in the material conditions of 19th-century urban poverty.
B. Create a sensory immersion that compels the reader to viscerally experience the girl’s suffering.
C. Symbolise the emotional frigidness of her father and the broader society that abandons her.
D. Render her bodily vulnerability as a metaphor for the precarity of life under oppressive social structures.
E. Justify her later decision to light the matches, as the cold becomes an insurmountable antagonist.

Question 3

The boy’s remark about using the stolen slipper “for a cradle when he had children of his own” is most thematically resonant because it:

A. Reveals the boy’s own poverty, suggesting that deprivation breeds callousness as a survival mechanism.
B. Introduces a rare moment of levity, underscoring the story’s underlying optimism about human resilience.
C. Exposes the absurdity of the girl’s situation, as even a child can exploit her with impunity.
D. Serves as a narrative red herring, distracting from the girl’s more immediate plight.
E. Collapses time in a way that underscores the cyclical nature of poverty, where suffering is inherited across generations.

Question 4

The passage’s juxtaposition of the “glorious smell of roast goose” with the girl’s hunger is primarily structured to:

A. Criticise the excesses of holiday feasting while others starve, aligning with Andersen’s moralising tendencies.
B. Evoke the girl’s sensory deprivation, where even olfactory stimuli become a form of torture.
C. Highlight the girl’s lack of agency, as she is powerless to act on her desires.
D. Create a binary between the domestic (warmth, food) and the public (cold, starvation) spheres.
E. Implicate the reader in the girl’s suffering by invoking a universal, relatable craving.

Question 5

The description of the girl’s hair—“long yellow hair, which curled prettily over her neck”—is most effectively interpreted as:

A. A fleeting acknowledgment of her beauty, undercut by the narrative’s focus on her suffering.
B. An ironic contrast to her destitution, emphasising how physical attractiveness offers no protection.
C. A symbol of her lost childhood, where even innocuous details are tainted by her circumstances.
D. A moment of authorial sentimentality, softening the harshness of the story’s realism.
E. Foreshadowing of her eventual transcendence, as her hair evokes angelic or saintly iconography.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: C

Why C is most correct: The slippers represent the girl’s last remnants of protection, and their loss—one vanished, the other stolen and repurposed with dark humor—emblematises how the world actively strips her of what little she has. The boy’s remark about the cradle is not just callous but systemic: it normalises the idea that her possessions (and by extension, her life) are disposable, reinforcing the indifference of the social order. This aligns with the passage’s broader critique of structural poverty, where even trivial objects become sites of exploitation.